The Seajet class , also Prudential Seajet class of the Marad Design C4-S-64b was a ship type built in two units for the US shipping company Prudential Lines .
The design of the type C4-S-64b of the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) was a further development of the type C4-S-64a American-Racer-class of the shipping company United States Lines , which was built on the ships of the Marad in the early 1960s Design C4-S-60a is based. The construction of the five ships, each costing eleven million US dollars, was commissioned by MARAD as part of the Long Range Shipbuilding Program at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Sparrows Point shipyard , which delivered the two ships in 1966/67. The ships were finally used on the service operated by Prudential Lines from the United States to the Mediterranean. In 1978 the shipping company Delta Line took over the two ships and renamed them Delta America and Delta Africa . Two years later, the pair of ships was resold and operated as Santa Juana and Santa Adela . The Santa Juana was used for a long time on the route from Subic Bay to supply the Diego Garcia naval base and back to Subic Bay via Singapore. The two ships were in service under this name for another ten years and finally went to Alang, India, to be scrapped in 1991 .
technology
The general cargo design developed by Jerome Goldman on the basis of the Challenger II class, with a streamlined bridge house just behind the center of the ship, a heavily overhanging stem with a bulge in the bow and a cruiser stern, was unusually fully equipped. The original layout was that of a conventional general cargo ship with facilities for six passengers. In addition to the usual general cargo, a number of special loads could also be transported. In addition, the holds were still equipped for the transport of refrigerated loads and for stowing containers. In addition, the ships had cargo tanks in the lower space and a separate deck for transporting vehicles. All hatch covers were of the Götaverken- Hydratorque type and were manufactured under license by the Wiley Manufacturing Company. The hatch covers with a large degree of deck opening on the main deck, in conjunction with the large hydraulic tween deck hatches, were intended to ensure problem-free vertical access to the cargo. The transhipment facilities consisted of fast loading trees.
Thanks to its geared steam turbine drive, this type of ship reached speeds of a good 21 knots. Both the machinery and numerous other facilities on board were automated or remotely monitored in order to reduce the number of crew members. Another remarkable feature for a cargo ship of this time was the equipment with flume stabilizers.
The ships
Marad Design C4-S-64b / Seajet class
Building name
Build number
IMO number
delivery
Later names and whereabouts
Prudential Seajet
4605
6523028
April 1, 1966
1978 Delta America , 1980 Santa Juana , canceled from April 1, 1991 in Alang
Prudential Oceanjet
4606
6603397
June 10, 1966
1978 Delta Africa , 1980 Santa Adela , scrapped from March 31, 1991 at Ghasiram Gokalchand Shipbreaking in Alang
Data: Lloyd's Register of Shipping (various years), Equasis, gross tonnage
Automation comes to Prudential fleet . In: Marine Engineering / Log . Vol. 71, No.5 . Simons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, New York May 1966, p.43-48 .
Prudential's automated high-speed cargoliner . In: Marine Engineering / Log . Vol. 71, No.12 . Simons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, New York December 1966, p.75/76, 138 .
John H. LaDage: Merchant Ships: A pictoral Study . . Edition. Cornell Maritime Press, Cambridge 1968.
Cudahy, Brian J .: Box boats . How container ships changed the world. Fordham University press, New York 2006, ISBN 0-8232-2568-2 .
